By Chance
by lockbusterr
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia didn't expect the parent of one of her students to be a 24-year-old single dad. She also didn't expect to fall for him so suddenly. (au)
1. First Encounters

Natsu Dragneel wasn't the type of person people pegged as a father. After all, the guy rode a motorcycle most of the time, dressed like a teen, acted as if he himself was five, worked at a security company notorious for defying the laws, and had flaming pink hair.

Yeah, definitely not a father.

Which is why Lucy Heartfilia stood at the door of the classroom with Happy Dragneel at her side, staring in shock at the 24-year-old.

"Daddy!" The 5-year-old beside her ran into the arms of the pink-haired man, who picked him up then extended a hand to the still shell shocked teacher.

"Hi, I'm Natsu Dragneel. I hope Happy didn't cause any trouble, he may or may not take after me in that department."

Lucy shook his hand, snapping out of her daze with a slight blush on her cheeks. "Lucy Heartfilia. Sorry for the shock, I just thought you were his brother or something. And Happy didn't cause any trouble today, but it's only the first day and he hasn't quite cracked open his shell."

Natsu smiled, "You're not the first to think that. But anyway, nice to meet ya." Lucy smiled, nodding slightly. She watched the pair disappear into the corridor, staring at their retreating figures while her mind a jumbled mess revolving around pink-haired father.

Lucy let out a sigh, resting her head against the back of her chair momentarily. She truly despised the first week of school.

Not only did she have to plan her learning schedule and 25 student names, but was now stuck in her office on a Friday for a parent-teacher meeting so as to learn about each students' nature. After all, they were five and extremely gentle things.

Just as her eyes closed, a knock on the door insinuated another parent. Groaning mentally, Lucy called out a faint 'come in' and waited for the next hour of snobby parents discuss their children.

"Happy, you can't misbehave like that. Listen to your uncles, alright? No- Listen, I need to go, your teacher is waiting. Bye, love you." Just as the door opened a smidgen, Lucy heard the voice she couldn't get out of her head and let out an internal groan once again as Natsu Dragneel entered and sat down across from her.

"Sorry for that, he doesn't quite like spending Friday's at home. Anyway, hi." He flashed an apologetic smile, situating himself in the armchair.

Lucy's cheeks flared up as she waved her hand nonchalantly. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, I'm Lucy Heartfilia as you already know and I'm Happy's teacher. If you have any requests or questions, state them now." The blonde recited the same statements she repeated at least ten times before, giving a small smile.

"You look really young, you sure you're a teacher?" Natsu asked, raising a brow, causing Lucy's cheeks to deepen a shade. "Y-yes, I am. You look too young to be a father, right?" She chided, cursing mentally at the small stutter.

Natsu let out a slight laugh, "Yeah, you're right. Anyway, I don't have anything to say, just that if Happy's disrespectful don't be afraid to scold him, I'm a bit too easy on him."

"He seems quite respectful, so I guess his mom scolds him better than you do." Lucy stated, picking up her pen and jotting down little notes on Happy's sheet. When her gaze lifted back to Natsu, his cheeks tinged with a light shade of pink.

"I'm, uh, a single dad."

Lucy stared for a moment, registering his words before stammering out, "O-oh gosh, I'm s-so sorry! I didn't know, Happy never mentioned it and I just-"

The pink-haired father cut her off with a laugh. "Don't worry about it, Happy wasn't really something we expected, and we were nineteen away, it didn't surprise me that she dropped out immediately."

The teacher was quiet for a moment, staring in slight awe. "You raised Happy alone? At nineteen?" When Natsu nodded, questions bubbled in her mind and came out before she could stop.

"Wait, but what about college? And your mom and dad? And Happy doesn't have a motherly figure in his life? And-"

Once again, Lucy was cut off with a laugh. Her cheeks blazed as the chuckles escaped Natsu's lips. When he finally calmed, he smiled simply.

"When Happy was really young, I took night classes and left him with close friends. I managed to graduate with a degree, and I work while he's at school. He knows he doesn't have a mom, and he's alright with it, I guess. He doesn't even understand the whole 'single parent' thing anyway. My parents are chill and love him, so even they take care of him sometimes too." Natsu's explained, his voice calm throughout.

Lucy stared in awe at Natsu, taking in his appearance. He would have never seemed to be a father, nor as the person who went through all that at a young age. "Well," she finally said, breaking the silence with a smile, "Happy's a lucky kid with a good dad."

Natsu laughed. "Believe me, when I first started taking care of Happy I was awful. I let him live off junk food and pizza for the first three years of his life."

"Really?" Lucy expression carried a mix of both surprise and amusement, causing the father in question to chuckle. "I had no idea how to cook back then! I still barely do."

At this point, Lucy couldn't hold back giggles. "Some dad your are." She said, her tone playful.

"Well you're probably a mom or something, and I bet you're not the best parent!" Natsu exclaimed, attempting to make his mediocre parenting skills seem justified.

Lucy let out a laugh. "I'm not a mom, no."

Natsu's cheeks burned as he cleared his throat. "Sorry, I just assumed." The blonde waved her hand nonchalantly. Just as she opened her mouth to say something else, there was a knock at the door and Lucy realized she spent too much time getting to know too much about Natsu, rather than his child.

"Oh, that's probably the next group of parents." Lucy said, looking at the papers in front of her. Natsu stood up, giving her a smile. "Thanks for taking care of Happy. See ya."

As he left and a pair of parents entered, Lucy's mind couldn't help but realize that maybe she never wanted him to leave.

"Lily! Get off the table!" Lucy exclaimed, glaring at the small child standing on top of the table who was singing. He stopped, giving Lucy a look as he huffed.

"But sensei, I was singing!" Lucy shook her head, standing up and wandering to his table, picking him up and plopping him down once again. "If you do this again, you'll end up at Principal Mavis's office."

Her tone held finality, a trait needed when dealing with five year olds. Her eyes skimmed through the classroom again, looking for any students misbehaving. Her least favorite time of day was their recess periods, especially when they were indoor. Although most students played around freely, some, like Lily, chose to jump around.

She found her gaze lingering on the corner table, eyeing a pink haired toddler sitting beside a blonde little girl with a small scowl, and smiled. Ever since her two encounters with Natsu, her mind wandered more and more to him. Lucy attempted to justify the thoughts by saying that she was just curious, however the fact that every time he came to pick up Happy she would blush like a school girl said otherwise.

She shook her head, clapping her hands as the bell rang. "Students, start cleaning up now! I'm going to tell a story while we wait for parents to arrive." She called out, watching the five year olds clean up their toys and place them in the plastic bins by the window.

The kids gathered in a semi-circle and sat down, Lucy pulling out one of the many story books from the shelf and sitting down in front of them all with a smile.

"Today, we're gonna read 'Where The Wild Things Are', does anyone know this book?" She asked, flipping open page while showing the cover. The students were all silent, except she noticed that Happy's eyes were bright as she began reading. "The night wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another.."

While she read, she would show the children the images from the book, watching them gasp and 'ooh' at the drawings. When she finally closed the book and sent the children back to their seats to pack up their bags, Happy came up to her and smiled.

"Daddy used to read me that story every night before he would go to school and then he would pretend to be a wild thing and I'd be a king." He said happily to the teacher, causing her to smile.

"Well, do you think you could be the king of the wild things?" She asked, and he nodded fervently. "And who would be the queen?"

He was quiet for a moment, his cheeks burning as he said, "Charle." As he said this, Lucy laughed, "I think you'd have to do a lot of convincing to make little Charle be your queen."

He went back to his seat beside the small blonde 'queen', the blush still on his cheeks as the teacher stood up and pulled open the classroom door, allowing the parents who have already arrived to take their child and leave.

Lucy sat back at her desk, waving at some of the parents till finally, Lily and Happy were the only two who remained. As Lucy corrected papers, a knock at the door came.

"I'm always really late, damn." The familiar voice spoke, causing the blonde to look up and laugh. "Nah, don't worry about it."

Natsu was standing at the door, now with Happy and Lily at his side, a smile on his face as he waved. "Well, I go to work with Lily's dad and he asked me to take him home since he's staying late. That alright?"

"Usually," Lucy began, "I need to contact the parent in question but since Lily seems to know you, I'll let it slide."

The pink-haired dad let out a sigh of relief, "Thank god, our boss would have gotten pissed if he knew we both had to leave for a moment while still on duty."

Lucy's eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, you still need to work?"

Natsu nodded, shrugging his shoulder. "I take Happy with me to the office. It's a struggle and prevents me from doing fieldwork, but it's alright."

The blonde pondered his words for a second then spoke up right before he left. "I, uh, I'd you ever need me to I mean, I could take Happy home. Like, I could help him do home work and sorta be a baby sitter or something and then you could pick him up."

As she said this, her cheeks blazed darker than Natsu's hair, considering that he stared at her as if she'd grown two heads. Minutes of silence passed between them till Natsu said, "I think I'll take you up on the offer. I mean, I don't want to burden you or anything, it'd just help a lot."

Internally, Lucy let out a sigh of relief, then wrote down her phone number on a slip of paper and handed it to him. "Honestly, Happy is a great kid and I wouldn't mind at all." She smiled, "Just call me beforehand."

The father looked at the paper for a moment with an unreadable expression then shoved it in his pocket and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by his phone.

Instead of saying anything, he waved and said a quick thank you and goodbye, pulling his phone out and replying to the call.

And as Lucy stood in the empty classroom and heard the trio's footsteps (and Happy's voice as he told his father a story) fading, she realized that she dug herself a hole she had no idea how to get out of.


	2. Childish Suggestions

A/N: HELLO! So firstly, although I said this on Tumblr, I got this idea from a comic by ouikawas ( .com) who gave me permission to use the au. Secondly, thank you all so much for the immense amount of positive feedback I received. I cannot thank you enough nor can I say how grateful I am to be receiving this much feedback. Thank you once again! Enjoy~! :D

Nastu didn't know what to expect when he put his son in kindergarten, so he prepared himself for anything that would come.

What he didn't prepare for, though, was endless thoughts about Happy's teacher.

He shook his head, pushing back more thoughts revolving around a certain blonde, and paid more attention to the task at hand. One of his biggest annoyances at work was anything related to reading and writing, which is why his mind was continually wondering.

After taking up Lucy's offer on her 'babysitting' Happy, he began taking more-preferred fieldwork with his partners but had a slow day today that consisted of paperwork. Natsu let out a groan, shoving his hands through his hair and checking his phone for the time. He had at least three more hours left to his shift and knew he should finish the task, but instead got up, exited his office, and entered the one across from him, belonging to Gray.

"Yo, I've come to entertain!" Nasty called, tossing himself into the sofa and laying down. The raven haired owner of the office let out a snort, his gaze plastered onto both his computer screen and a bundle of papers.

"Why the hell do we have this much crap to do?" Gray muttered, finally pushing away the sheets and turning to Natsu. "Don't you have work, flame brain? And a son?"

Natsu laughed. "I gave up just like you did, ice princess, and my son is at a baby sitter and is perfectly safe." Natsu almost snorted at the nicknames he and Gray used, but the curious expression on his friend's face stopped him.

"Levy's still on shift and I called Juvia like ten minutes ago, where did you get a baby sitter?" The raven-haired man inquired, and for a reason unknown to the pink-haired father, he blushed.

"Well," he began, "I was going to ask Juvia to baby sit, then I remembered she's pregnant and you'd kill me if I overworked your wife. So I asked his teacher to." Natsu thought for a moment before adding, "She actually offered to."

Gray was silent, staring at his friend with an unreadable expression, then sighed. "For starters, if you overwork my wife I will kill you, yes. Second, you better end up inviting that teacher out to lunch or something. I love Happy, don't get me wrong, but that kid's a riot."

"Your son will be a riot too, so is Lily." Natsu snorted, causing Gray to chuckle and shake his head. "Don't mention my child please, I'm still not over the fact that Juvia's having one."

Natsu shrugged. "If I can do the whole parenting thing and I'm alone, you and Juvia can do it." He paused, then added, "Well, at least Juvia can."

His raven-haired friend scowled, causing Natsu to laugh and sit up. "I'm just kidding."

Gray flipped him off as a response, turning back to his work and giving Natsu his cue to go back to work as well.

Natsu stood outside Lucy's apartment building, a nervous feeling settling in his stomach. He had no idea why exactly he had nerves, after all, he was just picking up his child.

Shaking his head while running his fingers through his hair, he lifted his hand and knocked on the door.

Moments passed, and soon he could hear a faint "Happy do not open the door!" and giggle, then the door clicked open.

Lucy stood in a pair of loose shorts and a plain tank, Happy already reaching out and hugging Natsu's leg. He picked up his son, smiling at Lucy.

She pushed the door further open, allowing the father to take a hesitant step into the home. It was small and quaint, big enough for a person who lived alone. There was a study table pushed into a corner, an open kitchen, and a small sitting area where she leaded them.

"He finished all his homework and I was making dinner, you can stay if you'd like to." Lucy said as the trio settled down, Happy still cuddled close to Natsu.

"We don't want to-"

"Please don't finish that sentence because you're not at all intruding, I invited you and I think Happy had fun with me, didn't you?" Lucy interrupted, a grin spread across her face as Happy nodded viciously.

"You're fun to be around, and you gave me candy!" The child dug through the bag on his shoulder, pulling out a bundle of lollipops to show his dad, who laughed.

As Lucy excused herself to check on the food, Happy poked his father and whispered, "Miss Lucy is better than Aunt Juvia AND Aunt Levy." He grinned, showing a toothy smile. "But don't tell them."

Natsu found himself smiling at the words of his son, and for an unknown reason he pictured himself and Lucy with Happy in a family-like way.

"Alright, dinner's ready!" The blonde's clear voice interrupted the train of thought he had, his cheeks burning a faint crimson at the images running through his mind. He followed Happy (who clearly now had the house memorized) into the dining room, his mouth watering at the site.

"It's a bit of a last minute dinner and some of these dishes are left overs, but it's the thought that counts, right?" Lucy's cheeks held a scarlet color as she said this, gesturing for the pink-haired man to sit while aiding Happy into a seat as well.

Once she sat down, Natsu gave her a bright smile. "It's great actually, Happy and I usually live off leftovers for days."

Once the three were situated and eating, stories and facts about each other were passed around, both parties beginning to learn loads about each other. On occasion, Happy would interrupt with a fun fact or a confused question, leaving the two adults laughing.

Although Natsu would never admit this out loud, there was a nagging voice in the back of his mind telling him that this felt like a date, and that he was definitely getting way too close to a person who was only meant to be the teacher of his son.

"That was amazing, thank you." Natsu leaned back in his seat, his stomach now considerably fuller and the plates in front of him considerably emptier.

Lucy giggled, piling up plates in front of her. "I'm glad you liked it, you two are welcome anytime." She looked over at Happy, who was now lounging on the sofa while watching a cartoon.

Natsu helped her clean up dinner, doing the dishes along side her and almost soaking her with water. They both exited the kitchen laughing, but quieting down as they noticed the now-sleeping Happy.

"That's my cue to leave." Natsu said, picking up Happy's school bag and hoisting it onto his shoulder, then picking up his child carefully.

As Lucy walked them to the door and pulled it open, they exchanged quick goodbyes, and Natsu smiled. "Next time, dinner's on us."

Lucy gave him a bright smile, her cheeks flushed slightly. "I'd like that."

"DAADDDDD!" Happy jumped onto his father's back, a groan escaping the pink-haired man as small feet pounded into his back.

"Why are you awake so early Happy? It's the weekend?" Natsu's voice was raspy from the early morning awakening, and the child hopped off his back and laid down, facing his dad. "We don't have chocolate milk or cereal and I'm hungry!"

The child said this with such an exasperated voice that Natsu had to laugh, sitting up in the bed and stretching out his limbs then turning to his son. "Go pick out some clothes and we'll go shopping and eat breakfast out, alright?"

Happy jumped from the bed, exciting yelps escaping his lips as he left the room and entered his own. The father stood up as well, making the bed and heading into the bathroom and getting ready for the day.

As he was waiting for Happy to slip on his shoes, Natsu scrolled through his phone, unconsciously smiling as he replied to texts from Lucy.

It had been almost two weeks since he promised her to dinner, however work had become hectic for the pink-haired cop and the blonde also barely had time for herself. Instead, they resorted to late night phone calls and endless texts, making Natsu feel as though he was back in middle school and was giggling over a petty crush.

Except he didn't have a crush and anytime the thought came into his mind it would be pushed back seconds later.

As he drove to the supermarket with Happy in the backseat, his gaze would drift and his mind would wonder back to the blonde hair and kind eyes.

"Alright Happy, where do you wanna start?" Natsu lifted his son into the cart, placing him into the seat and pushing it deeper into the store as the pink-haired child requested a trip into the cereal isle for starters.

"I want Fruit Loops, Cookie Crisps, and Lucky Charms." Happy stated, pointing at each specified box. Natsu complied simply (he truly was a pushover when it came to his child) and then headed into the other isles, continuing his shopping.

As Happy began discussing why 'chocolate milk was 100 times better than any other milk', his phone began ringing and a grin formed as he answered Lucy's call. "Yo!"

"Hey Natsu." Her voice rang clear in his ear as he picked up milk cartons for his son, who was simply pointing to his preferred things. "You sound quite busy."

"I'm at the supermarket with Happy and he has very specific tastes for a five year old." Natsu stated with a chuckle, following Happy's directions with a smile as he pushed the cart towards the vegetables and fruits to pick up healthier groceries.

"I can tell." Lucy giggled, "Anyway, I called to say that we have a field trip next Friday and I'm looking for parental volunteers as chaperones. We're going to the zoo."

Natsu thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "Alright, I'm in."

Lucy let out a sigh of relief, the pink haired father practically hearing the smile in her voice as she said she would give him the details in a text and said her good byes.

"Daddy, can we get candy?" Happy asked, a bright look in his eyes that Natsu quickly shut down. "No, because you still have candy from Lucy."

Natsu bagged more veggies as Happy sulked in the cart, causing small chuckles to escape the father's lips.

After many debates about candy and a final agreement on one pack of Sour Patch Kids ("I won't eat it all in one day, I promise. You can take it away after I have five, okay?") they managed to exit the grocery store and head to their nearest IHOP.

Nastu situated Happy across from him, sitting down I'm the booth by the window and ordering for the both of them without even a glance at the menu. It had become a semi-traditional thing in the family for trips to IHOP, even after breakfast time.

After ordering and receiving their drinks, Happy broke the silence between the pair (Natsu was checking his phone), by asking, "Dad, what do you think of Miss Lucy?"

Natsu looked up, furrowing his eyebrows. "She's nice. Why?"

"Do you think she's pretty?" Happy inquired once again, ignoring the last bit of his father's response. "Uh, I guess."

Natsu's voice held uncertainty but he already knew the answer to that, although anyone with a ten mile radius from Lucy could see she was gorgeous.

The pink-haired father cleared his throat. "Happy, why are you asking these questions?"

"Because I think Charle's pretty and nice and I want to date her, like you and Miss Lucy!" The child exclaimed, a broad grin on his face.

Natsu, who was drinking from his mug of coffee, choked and began coughing profoundly. Happy giggled, watching his dad get extremely flustered.

"Happy," Natsu cleared his throat, "I'm not dating Lucy."

"Oh." Happy looked extremely disappointed at his father's words, but brightened up once again. "Well you should. She's pretty."

Natsu laughed, relieved that his son chose to drop the subject. "You want to date Charle, don't you? You should ask her out."

The father was obviously joking, however Happy looked grave. "She said I had cooties when I did ask, but she went and played with Lily anyway!"

Natsu bit back a laugh, not wanting to upset the child even further. "Well, just ask her to come over and play one day."

Happy brightened and nodded, just as their food was set down in front of them. And as they began eating and cracking jokes, the pink-haired father couldn't get the thought of him and Lucy dating out of his mind, even though it was just a childish thought from a five-year-old.


	3. Of Realizations and School Trips

**A/N:** this is late I KNOW i'm sorry i had writer's block and that's why this is shorter than expected :( ENJOY THOUGH!

Lucy was panicking.

Well, kind of. She stood in front of her mirror, gazing at her reflection with an utterly anxious expression.

She didn't even understand why she was so nervous, it was just another class field trip.

'Yeah, with Natsu there', her mind reminded her, bringing back another surge of butterflies inside of her chest.

Her and Natsu had been speaking constantly, even Happy acknowledging it. They had become great friends, Happy even stating that his uncles knew of her as well. That statement left Lucy a stuttering mess midway through helping him with his math homework.

She constantly did aid Natsu with babysitting the child, allowing her to develop a bond that caused her to stay awake in the late hours of the night while she realized she made herself get too close.

The realization that she was falling for Natsu had donned on her at 4 AM on a Friday night when she was curled up in her cozy bed, causing undesired tears to spring into her eyes and soak her pillow.

Lucy feared love. Yes, a sad phobia, but it made her cause distance between her and the people she cared for, however she couldn't stop it. Not after she had fallen in love once.

She had been naïve, falling in love in her first year as a teacher to one of the assistants, Loke. She knew he had a bad reputation, but he left her feeling breathless and craving. She fell hard and fast, living in a blissful honeymoon phase with him till the storm rolled in.

It started with rumors that Loke furiously denied, however all her fears were confirmed when she caught him with another girl.

That ended their relationship, leaving Lucy heartbroken and fearing falling anymore.

The blonde shook her head, grabbing her keys and jacket and pushing away the thoughts of the past. She didn't want to think of Natsu now, she had to think of her class.

She arrived at the school with a few minutes to spare, allowing her to sit and check that everything was in order with the buses and the zoo, which is where she was taking them.

Just as she got off the phone with a café near the school to make sure of their lunch reservation of a table for twenty-one students, children began filing in, as well as a small group of parents, including Natsu.

She gave them a bright wave, walking over. "I didn't think I'd manage to get this many chaperones, thank you all for coming."

Lucy knew amidst this group there was Lily's mom, Levy, who Lucy knew from when she was in university and was grateful to see her. Beside her stood Natsu and a man with too many piercings on his eyes, but with the way he gazed at Levy she knew he was her husband. There was also Alzack and Bisca, who Lucy knew from the parent meetings and their bright daughter, Asuka.

They all followed her as she showed them the tasks they would be doing, allowing the students some time to play amongst themselves.

After explaining the way the class would be split and the bus distribution, they were on their way to the zoo while Lucy's heart pounded against her chest because of her close proximity to Natsu.

While she told the parents how the class would be split into three groups of seven with two chaperones each, the two couples chose to stay to themselves, leaving Lucy with Natsu.

Lucy held a wary grin, however Natsu was talking animatedly, allowing Lucy to hide her anxiousness easily.

"Happy is so excited," he began with a wide smile, "he made me sleep at like 7:30 because he wanted to be early to school. That was honestly a first, he usually crashes at like 9. But he was so ready for this, he woke up before me."

Lucy turned in her seat, gazing at the pink haired child in question. He was talking excitedly to Charle, who had a slight smile on her face. The blonde teacher smiled, catching his eye and giving him a wink.

She turned to Natsu just as Happy's cheeks tinged pink. "He's cheerful alright."

She stuck to conversing with Natsu, her nerves slowly fading into nothing as she laughed at his stories.

She was falling in love, but she couldn't stop it and instead chose to leave it.

~break~

"That was a tiring experience." Natsu huffed, sitting himself down on Lucy's sofa. After a day with the students, the blonde had invited them over for dinner.

Luck sat beside him with a laugh, extending her hand to give Natsu a cup of coffee post-meal and took a sip of her own cup. "Honestly, that's my daily life."

Natsu let out a snort, looking over at Happy, who was watching cartoons on Lucy's iPad with a half-asleep expression. "I pray for you on a daily basis."

"You get used to it after a while, it becomes nice to see your students grow and get older as time passes." Lucy took a sip of the drink, her cheeks growing redder for no reason. Natsu had a smile on his face, his gaze lingering on her.

"I like the idea of teaching, the idea of helping the next generation. But I also love my job, I mean, it's dangerous and I get to venture and help people who need me, in more serious notes. It's cool."

Lucy nodded, "I can never see myself doing what you do, bit I can imagine how it'd interest someone. I would probably just end up doing no field work."

"That reminds me of my friend Gray's wife," Natsu scoffed slightly, "we first met her on a job against us, when she worked for the underground troops. She joined us after the troops disbanded and refused to do field work for the first three months, it was interesting. She became his assistant instead."

Lucy raised a brow, "If she worked underground doesn't she know how to fight?"

Natsu let out a laugh. "Believe me, she knows how to fight. The last person she fought was Gray, and she shot him in the stomach badly. She got too scared to use a gun after it, but Gray cracked her."

"They seem to be a good fit." Lucy smiled, and Natsu nodded, a grin on his face. "Gray's the biggest bastard I know, but the girl does him well. You'd get along with her."

Lucy was practically beaming, her cheeks a faint pink. "Really?"

Natsu nodded, his cheeks ablaze. "I could take you to meet them if you want, next week we have our annual barbecue and I have a plus one?" He rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes hopeful as they met Lucy's.

"I'd love to." Lucy smiled, her cheeks pink. She could feel her heart pounding, after all, Natsu had just asked her to be his date.

Happy seemed to break the mood between them with a small snore, causing a laugh to escape the duo.

"He always falls asleep here." Natsu pointed out, Lucy still laughing. "My sofas are cozy."

They stood up and Lucy walked Natsu to the door, who was carrying the snoring Happy. "I'll text you the details."

Lucy nodded, a smile on her face. "Alright, good night."

As he bid her good night and Lucy leaned against the door, she leaned up and placed a small kiss on Natsu's cheek.

He stared at her for a moment, his cheeks heating up just as much as hers, before he smiled and repeated his byes, heading out.

And as Lucy closed the door, she couldn't help but squeal as if she was back in grade school.


End file.
